Feb 22, 2013

University of Michigan alum go to great
lengths to taunt their sports rivals. One particularly astute grad,
state highway commission chairman Peter Fletcher memorialized his on
Michigan’s official state map in 1978.

He asked a cartographer to add two towns to nearby Ohio. Thus the
fictitious towns of Goblu and Beatosu were created. The map can be
seen on the official michigan.gov web site. It noted that after the
hoax was discovered, new maps were issued, minus the bogus towns. A
few collector item maps remain in the public and copies are also
available in the official Michigan archives.

Fletcher noted in a 2008 interview that he placed the fake towns in
Ohio, safely outside Michigan state lines. “We have no legal
liability for anything taking place in that intellectual swamp south
of Monroe,” he said. He added that he had never forgiven Ohio for
the Toledo War of 1835.